50 years ago: Gulf of Tonkin incident

August 1, 2014

The Gulf of Tonkin incident, an event shrouded in controversy, gave President Johnson the legal rationale to begin the Vietnam War.

Interim Archives/Getty Images

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Front row, from left to right, Chairman Nguyen Van Thieu, President Lyndon B. Johnson and Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky salute during the playing of the American and Vietnamese national anthems at Guam's International Airport, Agana, March 20, 1967. Johnson gathered his top domestic officials with South Vietnamese leaders for a Guam Island conference to discuss the ongoing war in Vietnam.

Interim Archives/Getty Images

17of50

Front row, from left to right, Chairman Nguyen Van Thieu, President Lyndon B. Johnson and Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky salute during the playing of the American and Vietnamese national anthems at Guam's International Airport, Agana, March 20, 1967. Johnson gathered his top domestic officials with South Vietnamese leaders for a Guam Island conference to discuss the ongoing war in Vietnam.